Your district's data is needed!

Taking the next step to be prepared for the new Smarter Balanced Assessments in 2014-15.

The Michigan Department of Education’s Technology Readiness Team would like to thank all school districts that have entered their data into the Technology Readiness Tool. Michigan is leading the nation for districts participating with over 200 districts (25% of our total districts), which is due to your hard work! We appreciate your efforts.

For those districts who were not able to enter their information during the spring collection window, SBAC has extended the deadline to June 30.

After June 30, you can continue to add data to the collection tool over the summer to be ready for the next collection, which will happen in Fall 2012-13. If you have already entered your data, you can make any necessary updates.

This data is being used to obtain minimum requirements for technology readiness in online assessments and connectivity.

Remember, that your participation in the Technology Readiness Project benefits your district in the following ways:

• Data from the tool can be used to inform budget conversations with your administration and board.
• This is your opportunity to inform decisions that are being made at the state and national level that will directly impact your district's operations.
• Data from the tool will be aggregated by ISD/RESA and can inform conversations about the need for regional technology support and collaborations.
• Data from the tool will be used to inform conversations with policy makers and legislators at the state level about the need for technology funding.
• Data from the tool can be incorporated into your technology plan required by the State of Michigan.
• Using the tool will help you to be better prepared when the assessments become available.
• You will have immediate access to the reports related to your district's readiness by using the tool.
• The participation of all districts, large and small, is critical to ensure the accuracy of the data we are collecting.
• Data in this tool may be one consideration in future grant funding.

If you have questions about this project, you can contact the Technology Readiness Team in the following ways:

• Email your questions to techready@michigan.gov
• Join the Edmodo group for Technology Readiness by creating a free "teacher" account at Edmodo.com, and then joining using code 2w1j71.

Thank you for your assistance.

Linda Beachnau
Technology Readiness Coordinator
techready@michigan.gov